My Time at the Valley of Fire

William Newbourg
Sep 8, 2018 · 4 min read

On February 6th, I was hired to maintain the most beautiful place on the planet. The Valley of Fire in Nevada asked me to become a Park Aide, and of course, I accepted. I was ecstatic, but sadly the position was only seasonal, and I was there until July 1st. The Park asked me to keep the restrooms clean, and run the fee booths, but, I was sometimes asked to perform interesting tasks. For example, while this isn’t inherently interesting, I had to dig a sign out of the side of the road. To me, however, I was fascinated because I learned how they were put in; but there were the truly fascinating tasks of catching rattlesnakes at the Visitor’s Center, or searching for tortoises along the side of the road. One time, I found two rattlesnakes mating near the picnic tables at the Visitor’s Center, and when I tried to capture them, I couldn’t find my snake hook. So, I found a spade, and I scooped them into some ice chests. I almost got both with the first try, but one slipped off, and the other went on the attack. I dropped him into the cooler, and very quickly closed the lid. After 2 or 3 minutes of her attacking my boots, I got the female onto my shovel, and instead of falling off, she decides to go into the second cooler. I look back at the first one, and I learned that Mojave Greens are strong enough to open ice chests. He won’t leave; he just sits in attack position, ready to strike my hand whenever I tried to encase him with plastic. I finally distracted him from one side, and my coworker ran up and closed him in. Finally, both snakes were safe and secure, and no one got hurt.

I had a lot of fun that day, but, I had a lot of fun days at the park. If I was in the fee booth or the Visitor’s Center, I would have a great time with the visitors. I really enjoyed the opportunity to teach hundreds of people about the place, and I loved learning about their cultures;. Many of the visitors came from Asian and European countries, and their ways of life enthralled me. I’ve never left the US before, so I feel as if I have much to learn about the planet, and I relish every moment I can.

The visitors were one of my favorite parts of the job, but the absolute best would have to be the location. Just Google the place. I can not think of a more beautiful, other-worldly place on Earth. They even filmed parts of Star Trek movies there because it looks like some strange desert planet. Places like the Valley of Fire are hard to find, and I’m sure it was hard to discover that place too. It’s in a somewhat remote location, being 40 miles from any water, the closest being Lake Mead. The Park is also about 30 miles from gas, food, and civilization, and because it is a valley, there is no cell reception whatsoever.

Being in such a remote location taught me some survival skills. There was a week or two in which the average temperature was 115 °F, and they were killers. Almost every visitor suffered from some type of heatstroke, and there were days I was running out of water by 2 pm. I learned how to ration my water, and I also learned the edible flora and fauna of the area in case of emergency. The survival skills are important, but the most paramount lesson was much more personal. I learned how to better control my temper, and how to vent my frustrations. While I loved learning about the visitors, I loathed cleaning up after them. To be frank, a lot of them didn’t know how to use the toilet, or didn’t care. It’s not fun when you find brown puddles you need to clean. It’s also not fun to be yelled at by your manager, especially because the other one asked you to do something. You can’t be insubordinate; you have to listen to your superiors, but either way, one of them was unhappy with you. I quickly learned how not to argue, and to simply say “I’m sorry.” At the end of the day, I’m glad that they put me through that, though, because I’m a much more patient person.

In all, through the thick and thin — pun intended — I’m glad that the park wanted me to work there. It helped me grow as a person, and I learned a wealth of information about my locale. If I could do it again, I definitely would, but sadly, I don’t see a future there.